A stream, from its source in far-off mountains, Passing through every kind and Description of countryside, At last reached

the sands of the desert. Just as it had crossed every other barrier, The stream tried to cross this one, But it found that as it ran into the sand, Its waters disappeared.

It was convinced, however, That its destiny was to cross this desert, And yet there was no way. Now a hidden voice, Coming from the desert itself, Whispered: The wind crosses the desert, And so can the stream.

The stream objected That it was dashing itself against the sand, And only getting absorbed: That the wind could fly, And this was why it could cross a desert.

By hurtling in your own accustomed way You cannot get across. You will either disappear or become a marsh.

You must allow the wind to carry you over, To your destination.

But how could this happen? By allowing yourseld to be absorbed by the wind.

This idea was not acceptable to the stream. After all, it had never been absorbed before. It did not want to lose its individuality. And, having lost it, How was one to know That it could be ever regained?

The wind, said the sand, performs this function. It takes up water, Carries it over the desert, And then lets it fall again. Falling as rain, the water again becomes a river.

How can I know that this is true?

t is so, and if you do not believe it, You cannot become more than a quagmire, And even that could take many, many years; And it is certainly not the same as a stream.

But can I not remain the same stream That I am today?

You cannot in either case remain so. The whisper said. Your essential part is carried away And forms a stream again. You are called what you are even today Because you do not know Which part of you is the essential one.

When he heard this, Certain echoes began to arise In the thoughts of the stream. Dimly, he remembered a state in which he -or some part of him, was it?Had been held in the arms of a wind, He also remembered or did he?That this was the real thing, Not necessarilyy the obvious thing, to do.

And the stream raised his vapour Into the welcoming arms of the wind, Which gently and easily Bore it upwards and along,

Letting it fall softly As soon as they reached the roodf of a mountain, Many, many miles away.

And because he had had his doubts, The stream was able to remember And record more strongly in his mind The details of the experience. He reflected, Yes, now I have Learned my true identity.

The stream was learning. But the sands whispered: We know, Because we see it happen day after day: And because we, the sands, Extend from the riverside All the way to the mountain.

And that is why it is said That the way in which the Stream of Life Is to continue on its journey Is written in the Sands. When they tell us that we have to deny ourselves, to die to ourselves, to give up all that we have and all that we are, to sacrifice the Self as the ultimate and definitive sacrifice, it is good that they speak to us gently and lovingly, because we are not prepared for such talk, and it huts us. It hurts us to deny ourselves, to leave ourselves, to diminish, to surrender. It hurts us as it hurts the river. What will happen to me if I let go of my very self? What will a river be without riverbed, without water, without bands? Who asssures me I will be born again? What awaits

me beyond the desert? Reasons and arguments are not going to convince me. Or they may convince my head, but not my heart and my feelings and my wavering. But if a friendly voice in a gentle tone recites to me a poem., preposes a fable, tells a parable, that may help me with the reassuring touch of a farseeing prophecy. The tale of the sands touches me with the pointed charm of its profound simplicity. I know it is true. I know that the sands are right. They are standing witnesses of the transformation of the waters, they have seen them rise and be dissolved int he heights, and they have seen them come down again in joyful rain that builds a living current rushing to become sea. But the river does not know all that. The river sees only its waters losing their level and being sucked by the sands. And the river fears. All that it knows about itself is that its end is near, and its innate preservation instinct makes it resist the apparent destruction. The sands understand its fear, and so they do not argue, they are not in a hurry, they do not get angry. They speak slowly, closly, lovingly to instill trust and soften the test. And the river finally understands, gets ready, surrenders. Happpy the hour when the river becomes cloud and begins to fly!

I know that in order to cross the desert I have to cease being a river. Say it to me very very gently, for I am afraid to fly.